Match Overview & Live Updates

Pakistan’s Umar Akmal celebrates after scoring a half century as teammate Kamran Akmal (R) congratulates him during their ICC Twenty20 World Cup match against Australia at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka March 23, 2014. REUTERS/Andrew Biraj

Match Updates & Result

Group 2 16th T20 Match Preview

Pakistan are all set to take on Australia in an important match today in Mirpur where a victory will ensure their safe journey as the tournament progresses.

For Australia, this is where it all begins, the push for that elusive World T20 title. George Bailey’s men enter this tournament with five wins from their past five games but those were all in vastly different conditions in Australia and South Africa. The slower pitches in Bangladesh will provide a new challenge, although the massive opening stand of 113 from eight overs between David Warner and Aaron Finch in the practice match against New Zealand in Fatullah was encouraging.

Pakistan’s campaign started with a defeat at the hands of India on Friday and while one loss might not hurt their overall chances too much, two from two would make it difficult to fight back into the tournament. It was a lacklustre batting display that set Pakistan on the road to defeat and that is where they require a big improvement in this contest. If any team in world cricket is capable of following a shambles with a success two days later, it is Pakistan.

These teams have not met in a T20 since the group stage of the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka, when Pakistan cruised to victory thanks to their spinners. And that is the big danger for Australia once again. For all of the power in their batting line-up, most of their biggest hitters are happier when the ball comes on at pace than when dealing with tweakers with tough variations. And with India and West Indies also in this group, this match will be a pointer to how Australia might handle similar spin challenges later in the tournament.

The 16th T20 Match of Group 2 between Pakistan vs Australia is being played at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur today on 23rd March at 09:30 GMT, 15:30 local in Mirpur, 15:00 IST in India and 14:30 PKT in Pakistan.

You can catch ball by ball coverage with commentary and live scores along with batting, bowling and fielding statistics for the Group T20 match of PAK vs AUS here on Cricket.com.pk – You can also read Pakistan vs Australia match updates and match report after the match is over.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)

Australia WWWWWPakistan LLWWW

Team news

Australia allrounder James Faulkner will miss the game, as he is yet to recover from a knee injury. It could mean that Daniel Christian retains the bowling allrounder spot. For Pakistan, It was Pakistan’s batting that let the side down in their loss to India and the only backup batsman in the squad is Sharjeel Khan. However, given that spin is likely to be their trump card against Australia, they may play two seamers rather than three and bring in the left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar.

Stats and trivia

Australia and Pakistan have met in 11 T20s – Pakistan have won six, Australia four and there has been one tie, which Pakistan won in a Super Over

The Pakistan side features the three top wicket takers in T20 internationals: Saeed Ajmal (82), Umar Gul (75) and Shahid Afridi (73)

Series Updates

Bangladesh hosts the fifth World Twenty20 with a total of sixteen teams participating for the first time. An all important match for Pakistan with one match already down, must look forward to winning with big margin against Australia who are struggling with players being injured at the moment.

Pakistan vs Australia Live Streaming of T20 Match

Several TV companies are offering live telecast of cricket matches on internet, and watching this online is a safe bet if one is not near the television.

You can watch Pakistan vs Australia T20 World Cup 2014 Live match on tv in Pakistan and Australia on PTV Sports, ESPN Star, Star Sports and Ten Sports.

Check out the official online websites for live streaming of Pakistan vs Australia t20 clash here: